


Mao Mao's Thanksgiving

by Sagittariusrat



Category: Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart (Cartoon)
Genre: Family Drama, Kidnapping
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-22
Updated: 2020-05-21
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:20:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,167
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21515926
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sagittariusrat/pseuds/Sagittariusrat
Summary: Thanksgiving is tomorrow, but Mao Mao is already making the trip to his old home. But Mao Mao is immediately kidnapped before he could even leave the property! It is up to Badgerclops and Adorabat to save Mao Mao, but Mao Mao begins to bond with the kidnapper.
Comments: 7
Kudos: 77





	1. Chapter 1

“Grr, why isn’t Badgerclops back with the aerocycle? The trip to the grocery store is only 30 minutes on foot. Why is it taking him 2 hours to buy some lousy bread!” yelled Mao Mao. The black cat paced around the living room impatiently. He eventually stopped and sat down on the sofa, but was still extremely nervous. His stare alternated between the door, a nearby clock, and the Mao-Family Phone.

This year was the longest he’d ever gone from not visiting his old home. He would have gone there some time between last month and today had it not been for the constant onslaught of monsters, watching over his roommates, and his responsibilities with the King. Tomorrow, however, was a day he couldn’t miss. He had worked harder than he had ever had since he came to Pure Heart in order to clear up his schedule for Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving was an important holiday to his family. His dad’s Chinese family and his mom’s German family barely took time out of their heroic duties to even meet with themselves, but the few who went to Shin and Mutze’s party always loved catching up with each other. There was also the huge mix of Chinese and German foods, which always left everyone stuffed to the brim. Mao Mao, however, didn’t visit for either of those reasons, but instead visited to see his mother.

Even though Shin neglected him throughout his lifetime, Mao Mao’s mother, Mutze, cared deeply for her son’s well-being. While Shin taught their daughters how to become heroes, Mutze taught all of their children how to cook and clean. Now that Shin is finally showing some respect toward his son, Mao Mao is all the more excited to go.

“Hey Adorabat, can you handle the house by yourself until Badgerclops gets back?” Mao Mao asked. Adorabat had been coloring her drawings -away from the sofa- and had no idea what was going on. Despite this, she said ok. Mao Mao patted her head, walked in front of the door, and sighed. “Can’t believe I’m gonna go on foot. I might have made it on time if Badgerclops took time out to look at a clock! Lousy sack of…” He continued his grumbling outside the door and onto the porch.

Just before he could take a step off of the wood and onto the ground, a yellow ninja jumped off the roof and grabbed a hold to Mao Mao. The kidnapping was fast, so fast that when Adorabat ran out of the house, she only saw them for a split second before they disappeared into the nearby woods. The only thing left of Mao Mao was his sword, Geraldine. Adorabat took a second to process what had just happened, and proceeded to scream right after. She was on the verge of tears, that was until the aerocycle flew out of the woods and onto the front yard. The badger riding it quickly jumped off and ran over to comfort the child.

“Adorabat! What’s going on Adorabat? Are you okay?” Badgerclops asked. Adorabat explained the situation the best she could through her crying and gasps for air. Adorabat thought that she would need to restart since she couldn’t even understand what she was saying, but it was clear enough for Badgerclops since he already put on their helmets on and drove the aerocycle back into the sky.

Even though she was still worrying about Mao Mao, Adorabat felt at ease with Badgerclops. Adorabat hugged and, feeling comfortable enough to, cried on Badgerclops. Even though both her parents weren’t big jerks like her friends’ or dead, Mao Mao and Badgerclops were basically second and third dads to her. For one of them to be kidnapped right in front of her, it was almost too much. She spaced off as she and Badgerclops flew off in their search.

This was in turn a bad decision, as Mao Mao and his kidnapper were hiding behind a nearby tree. Once the deputies were far enough away from them, the ninja laid off Mao Mao. Mao Mao immediately went for the attack, but couldn’t land a single hit. Mao Mao punched and kicked, but always just missed them. Once Mao Mao tired himself out enough, the ninja stood in front of him. It was a close enough distance to where he should have been able to hit them, but was too exhausted from their dodges.

“Hey Mao Mao, haven’t seen you in a while.”

Mao Mao freezed at the nickname. She had sat down and taken off her mask to reveal herself. Her ears immediately poked up and she gave him a friendly but sorrowful smile. Mao Mao didn’t expect one of his sisters to meet him on their own terms.

“Kiki…”


	2. Chapter 2

“Stop laughing at Mao Mao Jackie, you’re making him cry!” Kiki yelled. The little kitten, still sniffling after his fall in the puddle, whimpered “I-I’m not crying, It’s just- just the water.” Although the state of his eyes made it obvious how defeated he was. “It’s fine Kiki, we were just joking around,” said Brunhilde. “You understand, right Lil’ Mao?” Mao Mao said yes, but like his other statement, it was obviously not true. Kiki stared at her two sisters in disdain and asked Minori, who was putting Mao Mao in her hat, to just lend him a blanket. Kiki carried her brother back inside the house, with her sisters’ not far behind.

“Remember that Mao Mao? Mom got so mad at Brunhilde and Jack...” Kiki stopped. They were on top of the mountains that nuzzled the single town and sheriff department into the valley. She took Mao Mao, who she tied in a cocoon and around her back, off her and asked “Other than dad visiting you, have you seen anyone else from our family?”

“... Actually, I did see Uncle Jim Jim, but I think he may have been a ghost? It’s hard to explain what happened”

“Well, he isn't dead. He’s already at the house, so you can just ask him.”

…

“You're the only one who went out of their way to visit me, other than dad and maybe-Uncle-Jim-Jim. I’ve been too busy protecting Pure Heart Valley that I only left once, and that was to get Badgerclops back from Tanya after she kidnapped him.”

“Haha! You mean your _ex _Tanya? I’ve seen jealousy before, but kidnapping takes the cake.”__

“Hehe, yeah… wait a minute, that's what you-”

“No! This isn’t about me being jealous or something dumb like that. It’s Mom, she wanted me to come get you because you… she’s mad at you.”

“Come on Adorabat, we won’t be able to find Mao Mao if we’re all tired and junk,” whined Badgerclops. Mao Mao’s two friends had been searching for him for the entire day and it was getting dark, they had to go back to their house. The small hope that Mao Mao had fought off his attacker and made it back home was quickly diminished when the door opened. Badgerclops wanted to save his best friend, but he also wanted to get some sleep. However, Adorabat was trying to leave and save Mao Mao.

He was getting annoyed at her. She acted like she knew where they were supposed to go and what they would be getting into, but she was still just a kid. All she did was witness the kidnapping. It wasn’t like Mao Mao was her best friend, it wasn’t like she was part of the sheriff department, it wasn’t like this was her responsibility. The brat just needed to go back to her actual parents and just leave him alone.

...What?

What was he thinking? She has been living with them for a year; of course they were all friends. And she was part of the sheriff department, that's plain and simple. Both of those are reasons why this would be her responsibility. The one thing he couldn’t find a reason for is why he would be so mean to her.

...But he didn’t say that to her… They were still just thoughts...

Sleep deprivation. That must be it. He didn’t just want sleep; he needed sleep. He stumbled to their room, only to realize that Adorabat was still trying to leave.

“No! Mao Mao is still missing. We need to… we need to keep loo… keep look-'' Adorabat let out a yawn and a mumble of sounds. Admittedly, she wanted to go to sleep too, but she wanted to find Mao Mao even more. She ran out the door with Badgerclops chasing after her. She didn’t get far though, as she tripped over Geraldine and landed face first into the ground. Badgerclops picked up his kid and carried her to the door. He couldn’t tell why, but Adorabat looked more confused than in pain. She herself realized this and didn’t know why she was confused either, that was until Badgerclops went to pick up the sword.

“Wait! The sword. It was on the ground when Mao Mao was kidnapped.” Adorabat said with a sudden urge of enthusiasm. Badgerclops didn’t look at the sword before they took off, so he trusted Adorabat’s judgement. The blade was slightly stuck in the wood, i.e, the sword was still in the same place before Adorabat tripped. Next to it were a bunch of numbers along with the letters N and E. Badgerclops went inside with a map in hand and quickly placed down a point somewhere southeast of Pure Heart. “Thanks Adorabat, This might just lead us to Mao… Mao…” yawned Badgerclops. He was now about to pass out from the lack of sleep, so the search had to continue tomorrow. Adorabat was more content than before now, and followed Badgerclops to their bedroom.


	3. Chapter 3

“Hmm… that was a good sleep, you awake yet, Mao Mao?” said Kiki. She looked at the red bundle Mao Mao was in and uncovered it. Under it was a black, dull mass of sweat, tears, and fur. One would normally assume that it was a sad dream or nightmare, but after what Kiki told Mao Mao yesterday, it was obvious why Mao Mao was like this. He had spent the entire night thinking of reasons for his mom to be mad at him.

Mao Mao had never seen his mom mad. Upset and disappointed sure, but being mad was a first for him. And what was worse was that he couldn’t think of a reason for her to be mad at him. All those sleepless hours did was make him depressed and weak. With his body immovable and mind filled with self-defeating thoughts, all he could do is close his eyes and let the darkness take him.

That would be it, if Kiki hadn’t thrown Mao Mao into the Rhinö River. Shortly after Mao Mao became focused on finding possible explanations, Kiki took her boat from the new Pure Heart Port and rowed it across the Pondlish Channel and into the Rhinö. She tried to get Mao Mao to eat some fish, row the boat with her, and just enjoy their time together; but nothing could get him out of his funk. This was the only thing left she could do. Luckily, Mao Mao being surprised and in danger managed to take him out of his despair.

“Did you wake up yet, or do I have to hold you under water?”

“Ghh.. Just leave me alone!” shouted Mao Mao as he swam to the bank. He knew why Kiki did what she did, but he didn’t care. Mom was still mad at him and they were still heading towards her. He didn’t want to go to Thanksgiving, even if he will see his sisters, father, and relatives; seeing the one person that helped him through Shin’s neglect and his sisters’ teasing hate him would be too much.

“Come on bro! You’re not even going to find out why she’s mad at you? Not even gonna try to fix it? Just gonna… Is that an aerocycle?” said Kiki; right before Badgerclops and Adorabat crash land at quantum speed into the boat.

Mao Mao swam back to the boat, or at least, where it was. When he reached the crash site, a blue bat appeared before him, gasping for air. They were already at the riverside when Adorabat stopped coughing up river water, which meant they could talk again.

“Mao Mao! I missed you so much!”

“Easy there Adorabat!... I missed you too. Now, tell me what’s going on.”

“Me and Badgerclops came to save you from that meanie who kidnapped you. We saw her throw you into the river, so we tried to drive the aerocycle on the river to save you and hit her. But Badgerclops forgot that we were going quantum speeds, so we crashed.”

“Al- *Sniffle* Alright. Someone at the house can help Badgerclops fix it. Speaking of Badgerclops, where is he?”

Just then, Kiki and Badgerclops jumped out of the water and onto the sides of nearby cliffs, blasters aimed and kunais in-hand.

“Listen dude, I’m not in the mood to fight you. You’ve already destroyed any valuables I had so you can go on and get.”

“I’m not looking for anything in that pile of driftwood you floated on, I’m looking for the cat you took. If you don’t give him back now, there will be nothing left of you, not even your ninja schtick, if you can even call your yellow bathing suit that.”

The two of them jumped off their cliff sides and towards each other. Kiki used her golden scarf to quickly land on Badgerclops’s robot arm and jump off it. The force caused the blast to hit the Rhinö River. Kiki headed back down in order to kick him into the impact he left, but Badgerclops turned around and threw her into the Rhinö. The water crashed down onto Kiki, flooding her lungs and senses.

Badgerclops landed on the banks and dusted hisself off. He went towards Mao Mao and Adorabat; walking at first, but quickly turning into a run. He gave both of them a giant hug, with tears and “I missed you”-s to go with it. Mao Mao, while grateful that his friends came for him, was worried for his sister’s wellbeing. His worries quickly went away when he saw her crawl out of the water, only for them to remerge when Badgerclops walked towards her.

“Wait wait WAIT! Badgerclops don’t hurt her, she’s one of my sisters. She just came to get me for Thanksgiving!”

Badgerclops looked at the woman, covered in and coughing up water. While they did look similar, she did kidnap him. Judging by his own experiences with a sibling, she would have instead shouted to the world what Mao Mao was late for in an attempt to embarrass him. He continued to walk over to her, only for Mao Mao to forcibly pull his arm away.

“I said stop! I’ve known her for most of my life, I know what my own sister looks like, you big oaf!” yelled Mao Mao. His voice was back to its stern and aggressive tone, bringing relief to his friends and sister.

“Thanks, Little Mao,” said Kiki, followed by a cough of water, “So... you still good with coming to the dinner, or do you want me to tell everyone that you’re caught up in ‘sheriff-ing duties’ or whatever and couldn’t make it?” she asked

Mao Mao looked in the direction of his home. Kiki gave him a reasonable explanation for why he wouldn’t be there, but he knew that he would never be satisfied until he clears things up with his mom. He looked over to Adorabat, excited to see the more likable people in Mao Mao’s family, and Badgerclops, embarrassed from almost killing his friend’s sister and not thinking through his reasoning. Mao Mao would have most likely chosen to go back home if they hadn’t shown up, but with his new family with him, he felt like he could withstand his mother’s newfound disapproval.

“Alright, don’t wanna make Mom angrier than she already is, haha!” He gave an obviously forced laugh in an attempt to make the joke more obvious, but all it did was bring worry to everyone’s faces.

“Wait, your MOM is mad at you?” asked Badgerclops. “I know your dad pushed his inferiority complex on you and forgets you exist half of the time, but you always told me that things were good between you and your Mom.”

“Yeah, it started when dad got back from visiting you. He and Mom talked about it and it sounded like he realized how much he failed as a father in your case. But the next day Mom closed herself off from everyone. The only time I saw her between then and now was when she asked me to ‘Bring Mao Mao over here for Thanksgiving, he’s probably too busy with that badger and bat to remember us. Even if you have to knock the brat unconscious for the entire trip, get him here.’”

Hearing that Mom didn’t trust him enough to remember Thanksgiving and that she called him a brat tore into him deeply. Badgerclops immediately noticed this and went to comfort him.

“Hey, dude, you doing alright?” Mao Mao tried to look at Badgerclops, but everything started to blur together. This time, it wasn’t from despair, but instead from tears flowing down his face. “Shhshhshh. It’s alright bro, I’ve got you.”

“I-I know, just- *sniffle* I just- WAAAAHA!” cried Mao Mao. He gripped Badgerclops tightly and sobbed into his chest. Badgerclops got tissues out of his satch and wiped Mao Mao’s face, along with the area his face was on.

Adorabat came back, no one knowing she left, and carried a stick that should have been too heavy for someone her size and age to carry. She screamed “Where is she! I’m gonna hit so many times she won’t remember being mad at you!”

Kiki looked on at her brother’s family in comfort and joy. Back when he still lived in their house, he was always being picked on by their sisters and dad. She and Mom were the only ones that realized how bad things were for Mao Mao, so they cared for him to the best of their ability. Eventually, Mom decided that living at the house wouldn’t do him any favors, so she set him off on his own with some camping supplies. He did surprisingly well alone. He came back after 6 months by hisself just to catch up with everyone; but even then he was still obsessed with impressing Dad.

Now, Mao Mao has got friends that are loving and supportive of him. Even though she just met and was almost killed by them, she could tell that the year he spent in Pure Heart Valley had given him the family he deserved. With that, the heroes walked down the river to the Mao Family Home.


End file.
